Month: January 2015

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As I’ve been in and out of the mission president’s office for the past few months, one thing he said always stood out to me. As the mission president and I sat thinking for a little bit, suddenly he grabbed out a black marker and a piece of copy paper and wrote, “GOD KNOWS YOU!”

As I saw what he wrote on the paper, I was pretty much confused thinking, “Yeah, I already know that, how is that supposed to help me?” As a missionary, the first thing you teach is that we have a loving Heavenly Father, who loves us and helps us in our lives. He loves us so much that he gave his Only Begotten Son to die for us that we may have eternal life. We can pray to Him, He is waiting to hear us and help us so He can pour out the blessings of heaven upon us!

So for a while I was stuck thinking, “I already know this with all my heart, that’s why I’m here. Why do I need to keep hearing this over and over again? What is it that He wants me to learn?” I think I’m just beginning to understand what it means to have a loving Heavenly Father.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world….” First of all. WE ARE SO LOVED!!!! If you haven’t yet felt this love He has for you, go to Him in prayer and ask him in sincere prayer. I can tell you right now, knowing that God loves me has over and over changed the course of my life! He has cared for my through my trials and lifted me on my feet, answered my prayers, and continues to guide the course in my life. He encircles us with the arms of his love! We are children of God! He loves us more in a single moment than anyone else could in a lifetime! “God is love” (1 John 4:10) I can’t even express my gratitude of all the blessings our Heavenly Father has blessed me with, and I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to go to Mexico and help them come to know Him! It’s the most amazing experience I’ve ever had to preach this gospel!

And so now, upon getting home unexpectedly without much plans or anything, I’ve been filled a bit with a lot of worry for year 2015 and what I’m going to do for work and school, getting a car, reconnecting with everybody, and figuring out how to still be a missionary in my hometown. It’s been weird to say the least. And I don’t have much idea what I’m going to do with my future. And then the lesson in church, along with support from friends and family, was just what I needed perfectly!

There is a big difference between knowing that we have a Heavenly Father to having that knowledge engraved on our hearts to applying it in every aspect in out lives. And what I needed to know is not that God knows me, but that He understands perfectly my situation. He truly understands us and will take us by the hand and lead us along. He will provide and light the way through moments of darkness.

Something I’ve been faltering in recently is that we can wholly trust in his promises. He will never fail us. We can stop worrying and give our worries and troubles for the future, for the past, and the present to our Heavenly Father and trust in the perfect plan He has prepared for us!

So my goal #1 for year 2015 is to trust more fully in our Father, to turn to Him in prayer daily, and give him my silly worries so I can follow His plan for me. I hope we all in some way can focus on Him a little more this year. I know with all my heart and soul that God is our Heavenly Father and we are his precious children and is so willing to help us along our journey of life as we put our trust in Him.

Well hey everyone!
For the past few months I’ve been talking to the mission president Derbez, and after lots of prayers and temple visits, I got the answer to my prayer of whether I needed to go home. And so, after packing the night of New Year’s, I was on a plane headed home to Utah and see my family the first of January. And guess who was at the airport?! Hermana Steele my companion from the MTC! …and my amazing family of course!

And then the next evening (since I got back home at 11:30 at night) I was then honorably released from the mission. Oh my goodness, It was hard taking that plaque of and being released. But don’t you all worry, I know this is where I’m supposed to be, and I ain’t ever going to stop being a missionary!

I can tell you all right now that even though I know that our Heavenly Father answered my prayers that I needed to be home, being in the mission for 5 months was truly an adventure and the hardest, but best time of my life. I met the best people I have ever met in this short time, and I miss everyone so much! I miss everything about Mexico!

Today I was starting to feel the coming home blues, so tonight I went to the Ogden temple with my mom, and ah I could just feel the spirit so strong there. I know that Heavenly Father has a perfect plan for each one of us, and that He loves us more than we can even measure or imagine! Even for a crazy sister missionary who went home early. He knows you!

I’m sure sure what the future brings with everything right now, but I can follow His plan for me, whether that means going back out into the mission field one day or being a missionary here in my hometown.